Dragon of the Depths
by Louisa4533
Summary: Creel is back, this time with a daughter named Laurana, Rani for short! When King Caxel lets dragons trade directly with Feravel, some secrets are revealed that were better left secret. Then Rani falls into a cavern, and manages to lift herself up onto a log before she falls to her death. But how will she get out safely? Follow her through the twists of tunnels and flight of dragon
1. Prologue

**Ok, I've got a couple things to say, but the first is that I don't own the wonderful Dragon Slippers Triology series. Please read the rest at the bottom!**

Prolouge: A New Addition (Third Person POV)

Creel laid on a bed in Shardas' cave, having suddenly gone into labor in the middle of dinner with Shardas, Velika, Isla, her husband, Prince Luka, and his older brother, Crown Prince Milun, who was married to Isla, otherwise known as Miles to about a dozen people, of which Creel was among.

Her partner, Marta Hargady, paced around her and getting in everyone's way. Creel yelled her head off as Jura, a dragon who likes to help give birth to both dragons and humans, told her to push, but she did what she was told to do. She gripped Luka's hand harder, and Luka was making a face and muttering to himself, "Just go with the pain!"

"Breathe, or you'll suffocate yourself with screaming." Jura ordered Creel. Creel took a small breath, but then had to yell with pain again.

Luka bent over and whispered in her ear, "What are you hoping for?"

"I was rather hoping I could deal with a daughter's drama of her teenage years before we had a boy with girl trouble. If her life's anything like mine I'll need some time with just her." Creel ground out. Luka laughed, despite the pain in his hand.

"Ok, one last push!" Jura ordered. Creel let out a stream of yelled curses that she had probably learned from her brother, Hagen, when they were trapped in the cave underground with Velika and Shardas while waiting for the eggs to harden.

Marta's eyes widened, and Luka doubled up, laughing. Jura looked like she had heard worse and was trying not to laugh at Marta's face. Creel arched off the bed with pain, and then sank back, exhausted.

"Ok, let me go get her cleaned up, and then she's all yours." Jura said briskly.

"Her! It's a girl, Creel!" Luka shouted, almost to the point of jumping up and down like a five-year-old with delight. Marta fluttered around Creel, asking if she was alright or wanted to be moved to another bed, since the one that she was in was all bloody and messy, or wanted some water. Marta was cut off by the entrance of Isla and Miles.

"How fares Creel?" Miles asked his brother, since Creel was so tired she couldn't speak.

"Tired, but happy." Luka responded. "Meanwhile, I think I have a broken hand." he muttered. Creel let out a weak chuckle.

"Sorry, Luka." she said, recovering and propping herself up further on the pillows. Jura came in, holding a swathed bundle in one paw, safely wrapped in a cage of claws so she didn't fall out. Jura gently placed the bundle in Creel's arms.

"She's beautiful. What should we call her?" Luka said.

Creel looked down at the bundle with unexpected softness in her eyes. "Laurana. She'll be called Laurana."

"Well that's a bit of a mouthful, isn't it? Maybe shorten it, like you did with your name?" Miles suggested.

"Rani for short." Luka said. He suddenly chuckled. "Creelisel and Laurana. This'll be a big-named family, I can tell."

"You got your wish, Creel. You had your firstborn in the Far Isles." Velika said.

* * *

Later, Creel, Luka, and their baby were walking along the beach. "When should we tell her about our, um, expeditions with the king and queen of the dragons? And that we know them personally?" Luka sprang the question on his wife.

She started, and then thought for a moment. "When she asks. And if she hasn't asked by the time she turns eighteen, the same age I was when Aunt Reena tossed me to Theoradus, then we'll tell her. She probably won't remember this moment, and if she does, it'll take some work for her to remember."

"That means we won't be able to see Shardas or any of the others for a very long time in person." Luka warned. Creel sighed.

"I know. I already thought about that. But we can still speak to each other in the speaking pools and the basin in my room."

"She'll wonder why you have two basins." he pointed out. "And she might accidentally change the water without knowing that it'll bespeak the dragons."

"So, I'll put it in a cabinet or something where she can't see it."

"What if Shardas calls you and Laurana's there but you aren't?"

"This conversation is going around in circles." Creel said dryly.

"Is it? I hadn't noticed." Luka put on a fake surprised face. Creel jabbed him with an elbow that wasn't holding Laurana.

**Ok! Like it? Hate it? I know, my characters are horridly OOC.**

**I will not be updating this as fast as my other stories, since I was just doing this cause I had a writer's block and I was like, why not? You'll be able to tell when I have a major writer's block on my PJO series, trust me.**

**I never have gotten many reviews, but I would like some, please!**


	2. Fourteen Years Later

**Thank you soooo much, SwimmerGurl-HuntressOfArtemis, for being the first to review! This chapter's dedicated to you!**

**I don't own the series you call Dragon Slippers Trilogy, so all characters except Laurana belong to Jessica Day George.**

Fourteen Years Later (From now on, Laurana's POV)

The door banged shut to Marisel's Fine Dressmaking shop, as I shouted to Mom, since there were no customers at this hour, "Mom! I'm home!"

"How was school, Rani?" my mother's voice called from the living quarters.

"As usual."

"As in, boring?" my mother countered from the stairs.

"As in, busy. Actually, it wasn't boring for once, since the king made a declaration, and everyone was talking about it. I'm assuming you know, since marrying the king's second son _and_ running a dress shop and everyone likes to gossip." I said, talking quickly. I was in my 'rapid fire' mode as Mom calls it.

"Actually, no, I didn't. What was the declaration?"

I let out a faint gasp that my mother didn't know. I held the suspense, and then blurted out, "The king said that dragons are welcome to trade directly with Feravel!" I practically screamed. I grabbed my mother and swung her around in a tight circle. "I can finally see the great beasts that you and Dad talk about all the time! I can see the king and queen for the first time!" I let go and spun off to my dressing room so that I could get some trousers on instead of the heavy skirt of my uniform. Ugh, their fashions were horrible.

Before I disappeared behind the rack, I saw my mother stumble into a rack of ribbons and almost send them toppling over.

I discarded my skirt and shirt and grabbed my trousers and a shirt I made and embroidered myself. I let my long, absolutely ridiculously curly black hair from its tight braid fall to my hips. I had inherited my mother's eyes, only they were green instead of blue.

I bounded out behind the rack and grabbed my uniform and ran up the stairs, two steps at a time, and hung the uniform up so it wouldn't crease. My mother watched me go, shaking her head at my energy. What can I say? It's not as if I'm on a sugar high or was just bed rested for two hours. I'm just naturally energetic.

"And besides," I started as I slid down the banister sideways and dropped at the end. I used to really scare Mom doing that. "school's almost out! Then I don't have to put up with the droning teacher." I sighed dreamily. "We are going to the yearly festival, celebrating the end of the two Dragon Wars, right?" For some reason Mom winced, and then nodded. "And then to Carleiff Town to see Uncle Hagen and Theoradus' hoard of shoes, and then to the Boiling Sea, and then back here?" I checked. Mom nodded again. "Ok, just checking."

I sat down at the table in the backroom. Mom was there, chalking out patterns on the Duchess of Mordrel's dress.

I did my homework, until I noticed Mom absently still chalking on the Duchess' dress, and I realized it was a stained glass window of dragons. "Mom? Did you know one of the dragons personally? Because you just seemed lost in thought, and then you started…" I gestured to the dress. Mom started, and I backtracked. "I mean, it was just a thought."

Instead of getting mad at me, like I half-expected her to, she yelled, "Luka! We're going to Moralien when Rani finishes the school year!"

Dad appeared in the doorway, looking a little bit like someone had smacked him between the eyes. "She figured it out?"

Mom's lips twisted in a wry smile. "She caught me drawing on the Duchess's dress, like so many years ago."

"Hey! I'm still here, ya know!" I said, dying of curiosity.

"You haven't died of curiosity." Dad said, feigning surprise. Mom and I smacked him lightly.

"We might want to tell her before the trip, Luka." Mom said, smiling.

"Of course."

They sat down on the other side of the table, and began the story.

**Please, please, please review! I adore reviews!**


	3. Dragon Tales

**Thank you sooo much for reviewing Swimmergurl-HuntressOfArtemis!**

**I will never own Dragon Slippers/Flight/Spear. So it's a done deal that the only character I own so far is Laurana, aka Rani.**

**Read on!**

The Dragon Tales

"Do you know the king of the dragon's name, or what he looks like?" Mom asked me. I shook my head. Mom let out a whoosh of air of relief. "Then it'll be easier to explain from my point of view."

"Three years before you were born, I lived with my Aunt Reena. She was a silly woman, and read even sillier romance books. She thought that if she sacrificed me to a dragon, a knight would rescue me and carry me and the rest of my family with him, though I had no dowry." she started, and I snickered. "The dragon of Carleiff Town was called Theoradus, and she sent me into his cave to be rescued."

"But instead of waiting like I was supposed to, I bargained for my escape, and won a pair of blue slippers. I still thought that dragons collected gold and some such like that, so Theoradus was astonished when I asked for a piece of his hoard. He asked me what would I do with a pair of shoes." I had to laugh at that. Mom continued, smiling. "But I still bargained with him. A piece of his hoard, and I could go free, and I would deter the knight from fighting him. He gave his word, and I gave mine. The only slippers that fit were the blue ones."

"I continued on my way to the King's Seat instead of going back home, and stopped the noble's son from going and saving me." Mom chuckled, and so did Dad. I suppose the image of Mom needing saving was hard. "I was about a mile from the King's Seat when I was stopped by bandits. They attacked me, and I tried to fight back. I screamed for help, and suddenly a stained glass window dropped from the sky and landed on the leader. The rest of the bandits scattered and fled, while I was standing there, stunned, and wondering how I did that." I laughed again, and Dad joined in. "Then great, golden claws closed around me like a cage and lifted me up. I screamed again, and then I was really glad Hagen wasn't there, because he would've laughed till his sides split to see me fainting like some lord's delicate daughter." I laughed harder, and so did Dad. Apparently he hadn't heard in detail what had happened.

"When I woke up, the dragon was still there, only I was on a bed of fronds. I befriended the dragon, whose name was Shardas, and stayed for several weeks until my samples of embroidery were good enough for show. After that, he took me to the edge of the King's Seat and left before dawn." She chuckled in recollection of what happened when she got in. "I had a nightmare of a time trying to find the cloth workers district. The curfew is what got me in trouble, after almost stepping on a princess's dog. Amaila." Mom almost growled the last word, and I leaned a little bit away from her.

"She was the princess of Roulain. I was just a country bumpkin, looking for work, when I stepped on Pippin. I nearly caused a war because of that incident."

"Oh, well, that's nice to know." I said, laughing, trying and failing miserably to keep a straight face.

"When it hit curfew time, I didn't know about it, so I almost got thrown in prison for violating a curfew that I didn't know existed. It was then that I met Luka. Before they threw me in prison, he stopped the guard from doing it and guided me to Ulfrid's inn. You've met her, she comes every once in awhile to introduce a possible apprentice." I raised my eyebrows. Ulfrid and her go _that_ far back?

"Yes, Rani, we go _that_ far back." Mom said, grinning.

"Quit reading my mind." I grumbled. I thought Dad was going to split a side the way he was laughing. "Quit it, Dad! Jeez, it isn't that funny."

"If you two can see the irritation and the mirrored looks…" Dad trailed off and chuckled.

Mom ignored him and continued. "I was brought to Derda's by Ulfrid. I was Derda's apprentice for two months. During those two months I wreaked havoc on the shop with my slippers. First Larkin fainting, she was one of the other apprentices, and then having Luka visit the shop, and then Larkin saw Shardas the one night he visited. Then Larkin stole my slippers in the night and gave them to Amalia, who had wanted them for other reasons than they were pretty. In return she gave me an extremely ugly gown."

I wrinkled my nose. "Even uglier than the uniforms?"

Mom laughed, and said, "Oh, much worse than the uniforms. It was cloth-of-gold, which in itself isn't that bad, but then it had sixteen fist-sized roses scattered across the skirt." My eyes bugged. "And in between each fist-sized rose was a great swath of fabric." I thought my eyes were going to fall out of my head. "It also had a low neckline." I covered my eyes with my hands.

"I'm going to have nightmares." I said, pulling at my trousers. They may have originally supposed to be for men, but women were starting to wear them also. They were baggy, so the men couldn't see the shape of our legs, but they were still fashionable, and they matched with pretty much everything. They were great for play clothes instead of heavy skirts.

"After I noticed the slippers were gone, Larkin even admitted to stealing them, Marta took me to the cobbler, where I got some gold colored shoes that would go well with the gown. I was planning to remake it to where it was wearable and not be embarrassed." I snorted. Nothing could fix that gown! Mom just smiled. Dad suppressed a laugh. "When Larkin showed us a Roulainee goldwork bracelet, I snapped, and cut off one of her braids, and called her a spy and a traitor. Derda yelled at me, and I quit work. I went back to Ulfrid's inn and worked on the gown."

"I was dancing with the duke a month later at the Merchant's Ball, when Shardas ripped the roof off the New Palace." Mom said grimly. I thought I might be sick, and put a hand over my mouth. "The duke and I ran to the tunnels, and I was made privy to a very important meeting with the king. It was there that we figured out that my slippers were really King Milun the First's slippers, the ones that could control all of the dragons within a thousand leagues." I was sure I was as green as my eyes. "We ran for our lives after the second attack to the Winter Palace and ran to Ulfrid's inn. There a dog appeared at the door. Fenuil's cousin was Shardas, and he collected dogs." Mom explained when she saw my confused face.

"There was a note in the collar, 'follow the dog.' Luka and Tobin, Marta's husband, didn't want me to go, but we went anyway. Fenuil told us about how the slippers worked, and showed us his cave." Mom looked extremely sad. I clenched my fists, waiting for what came next. "The stained glass windows were shattered. Every one of them. All the windows he'd collected over seven hundred years, gone, smashed, in less than an hour. We made collars for the dragons. Fenuil had one on, so that he could resist the slippers. We managed to get them on Amacarin and Niva too. Luka and I snuck into the palace to see where Amalia was, and get the slippers back."

"She was down in the caves, with Velika. After we collared Niva, she had informed me that Shardas was the king of the dragons." My mouth dropped to my knees. "And that Velika, the hide that the slippers were from, was his mate, and that was why he couldn't destroy them. Shardas and Velika reunited while I was down there, fighting Amalia. Velika flipped me into the Boiling Sea, but Shardas caught me before I hit the waters. Velika plunged into the Boiling Sea with Amalia in her claws, and Shardas plunged after her."

"For a year, Shardas and Velika were thought to be dead. Then a plea to the king showed at the palace, and Luka brought the slip to me, and we had set off in pursuit of the thief who had pried a stained glass window out of a chapel." when Mom said that last sentence, I gasped, and then fell off my chair laughing.

"Shardas- the king-of the dragons, pried a stained glass window out of-a _chapel_?" I gasped out between laughs. All I could imagine was this huge, winged beast with extremely long claws, trying to pry a stained glass window out of its frame and then soaring off with it, in the middle of the night, without taking out a house or something. It was laughable he'd been able to do that.

Mom ignored my laughing, though I think she was laughing _at_ me.

"If you would get off the floor and listen, I think you'd be entertained with the other two adventures, and Luka and my secret wedding at the Far Isles." she said calmly.

I got up off the floor and listened for the rest of the evening to stories about dragons being collared, uncollared, fighting, and flying. She ended with her marriage at the Far Isles.

I never did finish my homework, and I got in trouble for it the next day, but it was worth it to know that my own _mother_ was the Heroine of the Dragon Wars, and was responsible for saving the future queen of the dragons.

That night I dreamed of flying, flying so high I felt I could grab each one of the moons in either hand.

**Me:Review or be eaten! This means YOU! Riss, if they don't review, would you mind eating them?**

**Riss: My pleasure.**

**REVIEW! So Riss doesn't have the hassle of hunting you guys down.**

**What'dya think about the hysterical laughing from both Luka and Rani?**


	4. A Landing of Dragons

A Landing of Dragons

I woke up two days after Mom told me her stories, and it was the weekend! Finally! No droning teacher, no spoiled brats, no _homework_. It was also the day that the dragons were coming!

I threw myself out of bed without changing out of my nightgown and raced to Mom and Dad's room. Mom was already up, and almost out the door, fully dressed in a nice dress for waiting on customers, when I came barreling in. "Today's the day, today's the day!" I sang. Dad didn't stir until I jumped on him. "Come _on_, Dad!" I looked at the clock. "It's freaking _ten_! We have to go to the square and see the dragons land!"

"Actually, I think I'll change and not open the shop today to go see old friends. Sound good, honey?" Mom said.

"Excellent. And so does getting our daughter off of me." he groaned. I giggled like a little girl and got off. I raced to my bedroom and got on some beige trousers, a white tunic, a vest, and a blue gauzy scarf I decorated lavishly with embroidery and small seashells and beads, my specialty. I left my hair loose, only tied back the top part of my hair that kept getting in my way and braided it down the back.

I suppose when I got it wet it was down to the floor or longer, but since it was _so_ curly, it only went to my hips. I suppose I should get it cut if its that long, but it doesn't drag on the floor like Rapunzel's, so I'm fine, and I'm not tripping over it when I'm backing up.

I came back out to see Mom dressed similarly, only with a scarf that was gold with blue accents. Dad came out wearing a shirt and trousers similar to ours, but without a vest or scarf. His hair was mussed, like it had been worse, but only bothered to run a hand through it so that it was less tangled.

I slid down to the backroom to find Alle and two other apprentices, Cila and Jika, sisters. Unlike my mother's former mistress, she gave credit to her shop girls, and let them wear what they make and any other fashions they invented. And then, of course, was me, who learned everything from my mother and invented sewing bits of seashell or beads to the fabric. I can say that I am a master at it. My fingers are thin and small, and grabbing the small beads are a piece of cake for me, whereas others have a hard time with it.

"You may as well go without us, Rani. You're bursting at the seams with energy." Mom called down from the living quarters, sounding resigned. I looked down at my tunic to make sure I hadn't suddenly grown, but no, it was still just as loose as before. Mom saw the look and smiled at my joking.

"Thanks, Mom!" I said, running to the shop itself and flinging the door wide open, and dashing out into the street. It was deserted, and I ran to Jyllite Square as able-bodied as a boy, a boy with very long, very curly hair.

Jyllite Square was packed, as could be expected, which dragons had faded into a legend again in the fourteen years that had passed from the last Dragon War. I mean seriously, it was now a whole other generation now.

A bright gold dragon landed in the Square, as well as a blue-gray dragon, a dark green one, and a small gray dragon. Overhead, I could see other dragons spreading across the country, loaded with packs for them to trade.

I was coming in the middle of the bright gold one's speech. "…is convenient to trade for two days and leave and return every month. I suppose during around this time next month we will return. My people are now scattered around your country, trading. We mean no harm to you or anyone else. Meanwhile, let the trading begin!"

I studied the gold one again. He looked…familiar, almost. Like it was a dream from a long time ago. The audience erupted in cheers, and merchants rushed forward, selling and buying everything under the sun and then some.

For a minute the bright gold one was left alone except a merchant that was bravely bargaining a stained glass window for six birds, not just three. I watched amusedly as the quivering man gradually overcame his fear and was nose-to-nose with the dragon and as red as the dragon was gold. I hid a laugh behind my hand. Unfortunately, some of my laugh escaped before I was able to smother it, and both of them looked up and saw me laughing.

I blushed when the dragon scrutinized me. The dragon was gold all around, and bigger than a house. His horns, claws, eyes, and ridges were sapphire blue.

"Creel?" he said uncertainly. I started, then doubled over laughing.

"I'm her daughter." I said between guffaws. "Laurana. But everyone calls me Rani." I straightened, my eyes still crinkled with laughter. "I suppose you're Shardas, king of the dragons." I hid another laugh as the merchant turned from red to gray. "Though I don't really see how you mistakened me for Mom, with this mane." I gestured to my hair.

Shardas looked a little sheepish. "Creel's been known to do some…very interesting things with her hair." I laughed a little. The dragon's voice was like rocks tumbling and the sea clashing all thrown together. It was unnerving at first, but once you got used to it, it was nice.

"She's over there, talking with the dark-green dragon. I think she'd really like to come over and tackle you, but she saw me talking with you." I gestured to the dark-green dragon.

"Oh, Niva. I will go say hello. Is Luka here?"

"Over by the small gray dragon." **(AN: The small gray dragon is the one that Luka insisted on calling Peder No People, and Hagen Gray Whiner in Dragon Spear, just so you know)**

The dragon pushed his way through the hordes of people without further ado. For lack of anything else to do, I followed him. Mom looked up and saw Shardas, and her entire face lit up like a match when you first light it.

"Shardas!" Mom ran over to Shardas and threw herself at his forearm. She embraced it, and Shardas lowered his mighty muzzle and touched her backside in a draconic hug.

"Hello Creel." he rumbled. "Long time no see."

"Well, in person anyway." Dad came up and smacked Shardas' scales in a manly way. "Extremely glad to see that dragons are allowed to trade directly with us again." Shardas snorted steam at Dad, and he was blown back a step.

I was distracted by the conversation by another dragon. It wasn't a dragon I had seen before. It was a rich blue with silver horns. It looked over me like a queen or king, and I fought the urge to curtsy. Then it addressed me. "My mate is quite taken with your mother. I will go so far as to assume that you are Creel's daughter, Laurana?" Her voice was rough and low, but it was feminine.

"Yes, I am, Your Majesty." I said, doing a bob. Curtsying in trousers looks and feels weird.

"You figured it out, I presume. Creel told us that she would not tell you until you figured it out." she said.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I caught my mother zoning out and drawing dragons on the duchess' dress." I told her. She let out a low rumble I realized was a laugh.

"Creel would give it away doing that. You are coming with us, back to the Far Isles, after we finish trading, yes? Creel has several friends that would like to see her. Including my daughter."

"I'm not sure, Azure-Wing. My mother talks about going to Moralien instead of the festival, and then to Carleiff Town, so I'm not sure what she's talking about." _Her daughter? The firstborn female that she saved or another? _I thought, confused.

"Before Luka and Creel left, they said that they would say that the trade ships with Moralien would 'be blown off course' if it took months for them to get back." She let out another rumble of laughter. "It doesn't work as well now that dragons are allowed into Feravel, but I know Creel would like to see many."

"How many dragons is she friends with?" I got up the courage to ask.

"The question is better asked as how many dragons is she _not_ friends with." The queen said with a wry tone. "She has met many on her quests and is friends with all. You have the same manner, brave, but not out of foolishness or stupidity. Creel had a feel that was welcoming and safe. Growing up with her, you enhanced it in yourself. Even in Creel I was not talking as much when I first met her."

I felt flattered that I was complimented by a queen. But Creel said that the queen was recovering from the waters of the Boiling Sea when she was talking again, and before that she had been controlled by the evil Princess Amalia of Roulain. "It's rather hard to talk when you're in pain." I said without thinking. When I thought about what I said I wanted to shove the words back into my mouth. _Crud. How dense can you get, Rani?_

"She also tended to talk without thinking." the queen said, amusement in her tone. "No wonder my mate thought you were Creel. But yes, it is hard to talk when you're in pain."

"Dad told me when Mom was giving birth to me, she had no trouble at all talking-" I started.

"Because all she was saying was curse words she learned from her brother." the queen said, rumbling with more laughter. "I was in the cave, and I could hear her screeching them out."

"Y-You were at my birth?" I stuttered, startled.

"You were born in the Far Isles. I saw your face when you first saw Shardas today. You saw him when you were a baby for two minutes." she said gently. I felt like I'd been smacked between the eyes.

"B-But-" I said, trying to protest.

"Just before her and Luka left, she wanted to have her firstborn in the Far Isles. She was having dinner with Marta, Miles, Isla, Luka, Shardas, and I when she went into labor. Jura was her nurse." the queen said gently.

I couldn't believe it. I had a Crown Prince, a Crown Princess, and a king and queen, not to mention my father, the second son of my king, and then my mother and Marta, shopkeepers. How many other people were Mom's friend that I didn't know about? I'd like to know _something_, sometimes.

I mean, I knew Mom was close to the royal family because of Dad, Luka, whatever you want to call him, and that King Caxel did not like his son marrying a commoner. But you'd think I'd know if Crown Prince Milun was a personal friend of Mom's, and the same for the king and queen of _any_ country or race, much less the dragons.

I realized that I hadn't spoken at all in the last five minutes, and the queen of the dragons was patiently waiting for me to speak. I swallowed a hard lump of anger and resentment and said, "May I be excused?" as politely as I could manage.

She inclined her head in a regal nod, and I bowed and walked away, lost in thought.

I wasn't really watching where I was going, and before I knew it I was in Rath Forest, the same place where Mom met Shardas. I went off the path, dangerous, I know, but I really didn't want to be seen.

So I didn't notice a little hole in my way, and when I stepped onto it, the ground caved in on me, and I fell.

I fell, screaming breathlessly and flailing for anything to catch myself on, and miraculously, I caught myself on a log that was spanned all the way across the cavern, and hauled myself up before I could fall to my death.

A rumble below me alerted me that I wasn't alone. A pair of green eyes stared at me from the darkness.

"Who are you? And why have you disturbed me?"

**The dragon of the depths shows it's face finally!**

**Please review!**


	5. Raven

**I don't own the wonderful series of Dragon Slippers.**

Raven

The rumble was female, I knew instantly. There was a distinct difference between Shardas's and Azure-Wing's voices.

"Who are you?" she repeated, more forcefully.

I snapped out of my shock and took in my surroundings.

A waterfall pounded behind me, and the hole that I came in was a good arm's-length wide: small, but big enough for my slim frame. The water of the waterfall combined with the light made a bluish light dance across the dark, granite-like walls eerily. The log that I was now standing on was an oak that spanned the entire cavern, one end going into some kind of tunnel and the other on some kind of ledge. My impact with it had caused it to shift, and if I squinted hard, the dragon below me seemed to be on a ledge also.

"Well, if you won't answer that, at least tell me how you got in here, and how you're still alive." the dragon snorted.

I shook off my daze. "My name is Laurana, and I fell." I pointed to the hole above me. "From there. There was a tiny hole, and I stepped on it, and the ground caved in underneath me. I caught myself on this log and managed to haul myself up." I managed to spit out.

"You may call me Raven." the newly-named Raven said. I still could not see anything of her, except her startling sea-green eyes.

"How did _you_ get in here?" I asked. Her eyes narrowed.

"You can go out that way. I don't know the way, but the two others that were here and survived the fall have gone out there." The eyes that seemingly floated in the darkness glanced towards the doorway.

I narrowed my eyes in puzzlement. "How did you get in here?" I pressed.

She hissed, sounding like thousands of angry snakes, but I refused to be intimidated. "I've been in this wretched cave for a thousssand yearssss, young one. I cannot fit in that cave, the one that leadsss out, and yesssss, young one, I have tried. I came the same way you did: I fell. I fell a lot longer than the level I'm at now, but I happened to be in the correct spot to land painfully on a slab of rock. I broke many bonesss, and I lay there for weekssss, mending and healing. Then I jumped from slabs to platforms to where I am now, so no, you cannot get out thissssss way, young one."

Raven's eyes were full of anger and pain.

I took a closer look at the doorway, and broke off a wet stick of the tree. "Just as I thought." I said aloud, and began chipping at the doorway. "Limestone. You've been in here a thousand years? This will crumble because of the wetness of the waterfall. I don't even need this stick: I can just poke and prod it a bit and it crumbles under my touch. So, whether you like it or not, you are coming with me."

Raven's eyes had just a hint of hope, but then disappeared just as fast as I hit some of the more stubborn rock. "Well? Are you going to come help me or sit there like a knot on wood?" I asked her. A spark of amusement lit, and she effortlessly leaped onto my log. I blinked, because she was she was pure black, black as midnight and coal, with small but many sea-green horns and claws.

"You can see why I'm called Raven." she said, rumbling with laughter.

Raven was actually a fairly small dragon, but even so, we had to work until I judged it was dusk, as the light was rapidly fading. Her hard-as-steel claws worked a lot better than a piece of wood, and you would've expected it to go fairly quickly, but you were going from a crouched-human-sized hole to a small-dragon-sized hole. I had checked out the other side, and it was big enough for an extremely large dragon, like Shardas. I didn't know how far that would last, however.

The impact of what I'd done in the past five hours hit me like a slap to the face. Mom and Dad would probably have gone nuts by now, and I wouldn't doubt that the dragons would be looking for us as well. I still didn't like what Mom and Dad had kept from me. To tell the truth, I resented it. Having a bunch of royalty at my birth? Being close to and best friends and practically _family_ with dragons? Nope. Never knew. It felt like the rug I was standing on just got jerked out from underneath me.

Still, I had to concentrate on getting out of here first, face Mom's wrath second. And apologize for disappearing, though technically it wasn't really my fault, third.

I argued that I wasn't going into a strange, dark, and dank hole at dusk, and that we could go in the morning to Raven.

Let's just say that it didn't go well.

She wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, which is completely understandable, so did I, and I struck a nerve (always saying the wrong thing) by saying that she's stayed down here a thousand years, one more night won't make a difference.

Raven and I bickered and clashed, but eventually we worked out a compromise: We would start out in the morning, and go until we dropped, regardless of what time it was.

She slept on the ledge, but I sat up for most of the night, looking at the stars that I wouldn't see for a long time.

**Hey guys, I'm still here! Yeah, I know, it's been like three weeks, and I'm really sorry. *dodges rotten fruits, knives, and a random chainsaw* Really sorry 'bout that! I have a list of excuses, but I won't list them.**

**I may-MAY- post again tomorrow, depending on weather (pun intended) or not the power goes out from stupid Isaac. No promises!**

**Love you all! Please review!**


	6. Myths, Skeletons, and Fire, Oh My!

**Ok, look, you think I'm Jessica Day George? I'm flattered, but I'm not. Period.**

Myths, Skeletons, and Fire, Oh My!

We made it maybe fifty paces before we were hopelessly lost. I couldn't help but think about the magical maze called the labyrinth, which alters itself to confuse and possibly kill you. Unfortunately, the teacher taught us the bare minimum of that study, and that was pretty much what I knew, considering I fell asleep a lot in that class. Who knew I would need that study now? I certainly didn't.

Raven kept ruffling her wings at every slight movement or noise, grating on my nerves and making me jittery and short-tempered. There was nothing down here: as abandoned as a sewer tunnel, only with no sludge or rats or anything else. The wind howled above us, but there was no exit to get into the world above, making me prone to jump at the least sound that wasn't my own or Raven's footsteps.

We rounded yet another corner and I could not suppress a scream when I got tangled up in somebody's bones. Raven's winged instantly fanned and blasted the skeleton to ashes. Fortunately I had gotten out of the way.

"Rani." Raven whispered, nosing about the ashes of the bones.

"Yeah?" My voice echoed down the empty corridors eerily, sending shivers down my spine. It was like walking through a dense forest with no company but yourself, not even animals.

"This is one of the two I helped. Very, very faint, but I recognize her scent." Raven's voice was even more sorrowful.

I tugged gently on one of her forelegs. "C'mon. We have to move."

We made small talk as we walked, to fill the empty silence of the corridors.

"So why were you in Rath Forest anyway?" Raven asked me.

I gave her a _you're-not-going-to-believe-this_ look. "Do you know anything about the Dragon Wars that happened fifteen, sixteen years ago?"

Raven gave me a long look. "No, of course not. Forget I said that." I said, smacking myself on the forehead. "Do you know Shardas or Azure-Wing? Or Kind Milun the First?"

Raven continued giving me the look.

"Ok then." I muttered. "Long story short, my great-aunt was dumber than two turnips in a rain barrel-"

"What?" Raven said, puzzled.

"A saying that says that a person is really dumb." I explained. "-and sacrificed my mother to Theoradus, the brown dragon of Carlieff Town. She bargained with him: a piece of his hoard for her freedom, and he wouldn't have to fight the noble's son."

"At the time, she thought that dragons collected gold-"

Raven snorted steam at this. "When did that fable come up?"

I ignored the question and plowed on. "-and she wanted to come to the King's Seat to make her fortune. She chose a pair of blue slippers. After she left, bandits attacked her, and she screamed for help, and a stained-glass window fell from the sky and landed on the bandits. She was picked up by Shardas, and during her stay with him, became friendly with him."

"When she got to the city, she accidentally stepped on a dog, and the owner was Princess Amalia of Roulain. When she finally did get hired at a shop, for two months she wreaked havoc on it, long story short. The one time Shardas visited her, Shardas was seen. Her slippers were stolen, and in their place was an extremely ugly gown. Larkin, another of the shopgirls, admitted to stealing them and giving them to Princess Amalia, because she wanted them."

"Mom cut off Larkin's hair and accused her of being a spy and a traitor. A month later, she went to the Merchant's Ball, which is a ball where you basically woo an investor to give you money and you get to show off your skill," I explained to Raven, "And it went awry. Majorly, because, Amaila was wearing King Milun the First's slippers, which were made from the hide of Queen Velika Azure-Wing, and they were in Mom's possession the whole time."

Raven looked stunned, and stopped in her tracks. I continued. "King Milun's slippers can control any dragon within a thousand leagues. That's why Shardas helped her, not out of the goodness of his heart, even if he did warm up to her eventually. Shardas was under the thrall of the slippers, and they were on Amalia's feet when Shardas ripped the roof off the New Palace."

I thought Raven's eyes were going to fall out of her head. "They collared three dragons: Fenuil, Amacarin, and Niva. That was when Mom found out that the dragon that she had lounged in the same cave in, eaten peaches and sheep with, and bathed with was the king of the dragons."

Raven rumbled a bit, and I realized it was laughter. "Boy, that would put a dent in your world!" she remarked. I nodded in agreement.

"Another long story short—come on, let's keep moving—Velika was in the tunnels, and Mom went down there, prepared to punch Amalia in the nose and take the slippers by force. Velika, though it was her hide that made the slippers, was under the thrall too, and 'rescued'" I made air quotes with my fingers "her by grabbing Mom so tight she couldn't breathe. Long story short—I use that a lot, don't I?—Velika plunged into the Boiling Sea with Amalia in her claws, but not before she flipped Mom into the air as well. Shardas caught her, and then dove after his mate. And that was the end of the First Dragon War."

"The _First_ Dragon War?"

**Ok, people, I kept my word, even though it's 9:24pm. Also, I couldn't resist adding that little bit of Greek mythology. I may add more to it later, but just little bits and peices. And no, they are NOT in _the_ labyrinth, in a maze, yes, but not the Labyrinth: the one Daedulus designed. To those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, you don't really need to know Greek mythology.**

**ON HURRICANE ISAAC:**

**So far, only one death has been reported. Severe injuries include gashes and broken bones and mild concussions from falling tree branches and caving roofs, but good considering what it could be. Please continue to pray for us in the Gulf of Mexico. I am safe and warm, but I cannot say the same for many. I still have power, and it's only flickered a bit. I, again, am fine (despite the various bug bites that scream, "NOT!"), but please pray for the more unfortunate ones, what ever your religion is.**

**Please review, people! Eight reviews? I feel insulted. Is there something wrong?**


	7. Of All the Stories to Tell

**Hmm...Jess, can I say that I own Dragon Slippers Trilogy?**

**Jess: Sure, but you really don't.**

**Me: Yay! Hey peeps! I own the Dragon Slippers Trilogy! Except not really...:'(.**

Of All the Stories to Tell…

So I told her all about the First and Second Dragon Wars, and how Mom rescued Azure-Wing after those two wars, and got married and basically lived happily ever after.

"And then I came around." I said, taking a deep breath. "Mom wanted to have her firstborn in the Far Isles. She did. But I guess I feel resentful for them not telling me that a) I had a bunch of royalty at my birth, b) my mother was the hero of two wars, c) that my mother even knew _one_ of the dragons, let alone the whole of all of them, and d) that I've been kept in the dark for a friggin' fourteen years!" I slammed my fist up against the wall we were passing by currently, and winced when I heard my knuckle crack.

Raven turned her head around to look at me. Her beautiful sea-green eyes bored into mine, and she let me see the anger and hurt and sadness she had harbored for a thousand years.

"Why couldn't my parents have just told me the truth?" I whispered.

"Why did I have to be stuck in a cave for a thousand years?" she countered. "Why is life unfair? Why do people harbor grudges? Who said life was fair?" Raven dropped her voice to a whisper. "No. Life is _not_ fair. All you can do is see past the problems and live life to the fullest."

We walked in silence.

"When I was younger, my mother would tell a story." Raven broke the silence. "It was about a maiden, named Irial. She befriended a dragon named Zalthus long before I was born."

"He could go to the stars, but his love for her stopped him." I said, remembering the story. "Her suitor found them one night. Zalthus was killed because Irial pleaded for him not to strike her suitor."

"And he passed into the Eternal Sun." Raven finished. "Why would her suitor strike at Zalthus when Irial clearly loved Zalthus as much as she did her suitor?"

I shook my head, mystified. I recognized the story, all right. The Lay of Irial. My mother told me it a dozen times at least. Of all the legends to tell, why that one?

"Why would your mother keep secrets from you? Why did Shardas keep his continued existence hidden from you for an entire year? Why would my parents tell me that I had a brother that survived for eighteen years and then disappeared?" Raven shook her head. "To keep you—us, them, whoever—safe. Your mother would know that it would hurt you, Rani. But she would let you go. Don't hate the criminal. Hate the crime."

I had an internal battle with myself on whether or not I should forgive my mother for the rest of the way. I was so preoccupied that I ran right into Raven.

"What on—" I cut myself off. I hadn't realized it, but it had been getting lighter, gradually, in the tunnel.

Now I saw the reason why.

A pace above my head, an opening started. However, the sides were glassy rock. There was no way I could climb that, and way too small for Raven.

What now?

**OH MY GOD I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN THREE MONTHS! I AM SOOOO SORRY!**

**Really, my writer's block from this hasn't let up and I'm surprised that I managed to make it to 542 words. After this, is should pick up some more. I need at least fifteen chapters on this. C'mon, Water Girl (nickname), you can do it! I refuse to have anything less.**

**One more 'minor' problem will crop up. Actually, two, but that other one's really small compared to the other.**

**I am so sorry I haven't updated. Four cookies with the chocolate chips still melting for you guy's patience with me. I am really sorry!**

**(::) (::) (::) (::)**

**I know, I know, I derserve to be flamed. Riss, you are allowed (god, that took me three tries to get that spelling right) to eat me now.**

**Riss: You would taste terrible.**

**Me (sarcastically): Thanks.**

**Riss (not sarcastically): Your welcome!**

**Me: *facepalm***

**I know I don't deserve it, but could you review? I promise I'll write sooner! So sorry!**


	8. A Ray of Hope, Literally

**Me: Gala, would you do the honors?**  
**Gala: Sure! Lou doesn't own the Dragon Slippers Series, even if she really, really wanted to.**  
**Me: And I really, really want to...**

A Ray of Hope, Literally

"This is the same rock as the entrance," Raven rumbled, bumping her nose against the edge.

"Limestone?" I jumped, but I couldn't reach the edge of the hole. I squeaked in shock as I felt myself suddenly being lifted to the hole, and my fingers brushed the crumbly rock. I suddenly remembered the arrowhead I found once and sewed it into one of my scarves. Was this scarf the one?

I squeaked again, this time in delight, as I found it and ripped the sharp object off of my scarf. Pity, it was a good conversation peice, but right now we're just talking survival. By the angle of the sunlight, it was almost sundown, and I hadn't eaten anything since early yesterday morning. I had drank from the waterfall, but that was it.

I dug deep gouges into the hole, and Raven would carve out the peices. Soon it was wide enough for me to be able to chimney-walk up the sides, but I wasn't about to let Raven stay down there. I just kept digging out peices.

It got so that the bottom was wide enough for Raven, and it went up into a conical shape. For awhile, I stood on Raven's head and hammered the top of the hole wider. Eventually, I hit soft dirt.

"Dirt!" I yelled. Raven, startled, reared like a frightened horse, and lifted me clear out of the hole. Her head hit the weakened rock and soft dirt, and then next thing I know, I'm tangled up in a tree while the ground exploded.

A black blur zoomed out of the hole, screeching, a sound that lifted the hairs of my head and made me wince as the sound scraped at my eardrums. Said black blur landed with a heavy _thump_ twenty feet away from me, scaring both me and the poor farmer whose lot we had basically just destroyed.

"A little help? Someone? Anyone?" I said, hanging upside down from the tree, tangled in vines and branches. The farmer went the long way around Raven, who had apparently knocked herself out, landing that heavily from the-gods-know how high.

He pulled a knife, and I said, "Whoa, whoa. I just wanted help out of here, I didn't want help being killed. I've already done that who-knows-how-many times in the past two days. You try and kill me, I set my dragon on you. Got it?"

The guy said something I didn't understand. I sighed. "You," I pointed to him, "kill," I drew a finger across my throat, "me," I pointed to myself, "dragon," I pointed to Raven, who was watching the guy closely, "kill," I drew my finger across my throat again, "you." I pointed to him. I raised my hands as much as I could. "Got it?"

The man, as far as I could tell, grumbled, but said something to the effect of, "Fine." Real friendly, ain't he? Maybe he was thinking about having black-haired girl for dinner tonight.

I was cut free by the man, who then made a quick exit before I could even thank him. Raven crawled over to me. She bowed her head. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Raven." I winced as I rolled my shoulders. "A few bruises, but I'm fine."

Her snout was almost touching the ground. I sat down next to her. "Raven, if you had wanted to hurt me, you would've killed me. I startled you. And we're out! We're out of that labyrinth of a maze! There's nothing to worry about."

Raven's beautiful green eyes fluttered shut. "Hey," I said. "Look at me. We'll be fine. There's not much that can scare me after falling down a cave and getting tangled up into a skeleton, and then being catapulted into a tree." I snorted. I found the last one hilarious.

Raven looked at me, deadly serious. "Even if I told you I've forgotten how to fly, and we're nowhere near the Rath Forest?"


	9. To Touch the Stars

To Touch the Stars

Instead of freaking out like a rational person (which I am not), or gathering a good luck charm like a superstitious person (which I am not), or praying like a devout person (which I am not), I asked a question, like the slightly slow person I am.

"Question. How does a dragon forget how to fly?"

"You try walking after many years of no practice," Raven said dryly.

"That's atrophying, not forgetting. That kind of thing, you only have to learn once. Muscle memory. You just don't have enough muscle to get you up in the air," I explained.

"Excerise?" Raven asked.

"Pretty much," I agreed.

"That's it?" Raven said, disbelief coloring her rocky voice.

"Pretty much," I repeated. "Muscle memory. You'll remember. It'll only take a little time. Say, a week, to get you up a flying again."

"But your parents..."

"If we are where I think we are, it'll take me much longer on foot to get back to King's Seat than to wait for you to be able to fly and help me back to my home," I said firmly.

"And where are we?" Raven asked, sounding like she didn't want to know.

"A couple miles into the Roulani border from the opposite side of Feravel. Which takes a week on horseback from King's Seat to the Feravel-Roulani border, and another week to get to here. But I don't have a horse, so it'd take double that time, if not almost triple."

"How long were we in there!" Raven exclaimed.

"Um, I don't know. It was always dark in there, so I couldn't tell the time of day. We could've easily walked a hundred miles in there, looking for an exit. It was hard to tell when we fell asleep as well, it was so dark. We could've been in there any number of days."

Raven stared at me in disbelief. I shrugged.

"So? Are we going to stand around dithering like a couple dickheads or start exercising and finding a place to sleep where the locals won't find us?" I asked impatiently.

Raven snorted with laughter.

* * *

We found a cave that ran under the Roulani hills, and relatively close to water. _Fresh_ water. Raven excercised everyday for a fortnight, rolling boulders uphill, pulling herself up on a treebranch with her wings, running long distances with me on her back (not like I weighed much, but better to be safe than sorry), little things like that.

We mostly excercised at night, where her scales would blend into the darkness. I noticed, more often than not, Raven's wings were always spread wide when she ran with me on her back. More than once, I could feel her haunches bunching, ready to leap into the air, but then I guess she caught herself, and kept running.

I caught her at the bunching-of-hindquarters again, and I just said, "Go for it."

Startled, Raven skidded to a stop, plowing up a mound of dirt where her legs planted themselves from shock, and I flew over her head. I tucked myself into a ball and rolled with the impact, coming up standing. I ran a hand through my tangled tresses, spitting some hair and dirt out of my mouth, and glared at Raven. "I told _you_ to fly, not send _me_ flying!" I spat some more dirt out of my mouth.

"Sorry," Raven rumbled. "I wasn't paying attention, and then you said that and I realized that I was bunching my legs to fly-"

I put my hand over her mouth, the way someone would put a finger to another human's lips to get them to shut up. "Raven, I'm not hurt. I sure am able to get into some crazy situations sometimes, but I'm all right. So go for it!"

"Rani-"

"Raven, you are going to freaking run around in circles if you have to like a dog chasing it's tail, until you zone out again, and when you catch yourself, don't hesitate! Just go with it! Oh my gods, Raven you are the bravest dragon I've met, surely you can just fly without thinking!" I half-yelled, half-groaned at her. I pushed her rump and scrambled on. She turned her head around to look at me weirdly. "Hey, if you're gonna fly, I'm not gonna just sit by and watch on the ground! What kind of idiot passes up flying?"

"A true idiot," Raven said dryly.

"True, that," I agreed.

**Uh...hi?**

***ducks various things thrown at her* **

***turns to a random person in the audience* Why would you throw a _chair_? A _chair_ of all things...**

**Um, yeah. Really sorry about the long wait. I'll be finishing one of my more major books from Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and I'll then finish this story and two others. I have one and a half chapters to go on the book that I'll finish before this one, and then you can expect a heck of a lot more updates.**

**A big thank-you to my GUEST reviewers. I'll be responding here, now!**

**sequoia- **thank u for wrighting about dragon slippers i think she should tay with the dragons

**As good of a fairytale ending that would be, it's chapter one, and her husband is the second son of the king. Said king _probably_ wouldn't like his son with the dragons. That, and it's not much of a story if I end it on chapter one. then it's considered a one-shot. And frankly, I didn't want a one-shot.**

**Guest- **looking at this chapters name i suddenly burst out humming the theme song to the little kids show Dragon Tales

**Uh... is that a good thing?**

**Guest- **me; you promise?  
you; yes  
me; ok *nomnomnom*

***cringes* I'm so sorry about this late update... Do cookies make it better? If so, here's a whole platter full of them...**

**Crazy- **Good story! This looks interesting. I can't wait to see how they get back to Rani's parents.

**Cool! You seem like the constructive critism type. I'll always accept it! Of course, they'll be flying back after the initial shock dies down, and (spoiler alert!) find out where the heck they actually are. Rani was off. By _a lot_.**

**hawk. j . - **don't laugh at my name. yes. it is my true not tell a soul. i work for the federal bureuo of investigations. my office is 124 at the hoover building. i am 32. if you ever see a man, 6'2, bald, brown eyed, and suspicios, call 911. say 'charles'. anwser all questions. get away from the man. he is wanted. anyway, your review, madam: fabulos.

**Uh, no offense, FBI agent, but why on earth would a grown guy/girl that doesn't have an account be on here? And, um, you might want to learn how to spell a little bit better...your review was practically murder on my dylexic eyes... And there's also the fact that I live nowhere near the Hoover Building... Also, I know several guys matching that discription... Considering how creepy that review was, thanks for the compliment.**


	10. Once Again, Once Again

Once Again, Once Again

Raven darted forward, almost throwing me off _backwards_ this time. "Sorry," she mumbled to me. I had only saved myself by grabbing ahold of the spine in front of me, almost cutting a gash on my palms from where I grabbed the edges.

"Jeez, your spines are like knives!" I yelled back.

She rumbled with laughter. I hunkered down as a piece of my hair whipped my face. The wind that slammed against my face from Raven's run was almost blinding me. My windburn was going to _hurt _like _heck_.

I looked down at the blurred, dark ground. Just because Raven was a relatively small dragon, doesn't mean that I wasn't a good seven feet off the ground. I had almost gotten over my fear of heights (because seriously, who's afraid of heights when friends with dragons?), but that doesn't mean that it wasn't disturbing to see the grass a very long way away.

Raven ran for another good hour before she put herself on autopilot. Then her pacing changed, jerking me awake from a doze. She had been going fast before, but now she was lightly running along the ground, barely creating dents in the grass. Simply a silent shadow.

My head jerked as I looked at her wings. Half open. Raven's tail lashed like an excited cat's. I ducked my head, hunkering down, not wanting to impede her progress. Raven's eyes were distant.

She launched herself into the air. I gasped as Raven snapped out of her thoughts and was engulfed in panic, froze, and we dropped a good twenty feet.

"Extend your wings!" I screamed at her. "Flap!"

Fear shining in Raven's eyes, some small part made her wings extend to their full extent, jerking us from plumeting to our deaths to a controlled descent.

"Flap!" I yelled less desperately.

Fear still evident in her eyes, Raven cautiously flapped her wings, freezing as we dropped a little bit. "Again!" I shrieked, startled as she was. The ground rose up to meet us. "_Now!_" I screamed in her ear, fear probably stamped all over my face.

Raven's eyes were wide in fear and determination as she flapped. "Get up to an air current!" I told her over the wind. She flapped again.

I sagged in relief. We rose above the forest, gliding on the newly-found air current. The half-moon provided enough light to see a dragon-shaped shadow soaring on the towering forest.

My heart sank as I recognized a landmark from my mother's stories. "Fly towards that mountain!" I said, pointing to the specific mountain.

Raven rumbled to show that she heard me. She tilted, banking to the right, towards the mountain.

There was quite a few more seconds of panic as Raven struggled to land without breaking anything.

"Where are we?" she rumbled in astonishment. We had landed in the center of a hollowed-out mountain.

"There is no way we've walked this far," I said weakly, feeling sick to my stomach.

"Rani?" Raven asked in concern.

I sank to the floor in astonishment. "No way. Not possible," I denied to myself. "No way we walked under an ocean."

I shook my head adamantly as I kept staring.

"Rani?" Raven said, nudging me with her nose. "What's wrong?"

"We aren't in Rolaini territory," I told her faintly. "This temple...comes from my mother's stories. This is the Temple of the First Mother."

**I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm really, really, really, really sorry! I got deathly sick, then I had pages of homework to catch up on (38 pages of homework and 12 tests, if you were wondering), then as soon as I got that done, I started killing myself over exams, which I finished today. I promise that it'll get better from here. I'll probably update tomorrow, even. More like later today.**

**I'm really sorry!**

**~Lou**


	11. The Long Way Home

The Long Way Home

I struck my flint near a torch, and it flared, lighting the dry wood. I left it in it's holder.

If Raven had had a human face, I'm fairly sure that it would be whiter than fresh cotton. As it was, Raven's eyes were filled with a mixture of awe and fear.

"Why is it abandoned?" Raven whispered.

"The volcano erupted," I said, pointing outside. "The dragons and humans alike used this place as a sanctuary from the volcano for two days. When it finished, there was a beach of glass, no vegetation, and nothing to eat. The fish had either been boiled to death or poisoned from the volcanic toxic fumes. The dragons went to the Far Isles. The humans went to the other side of the gorge that divides this continent in half." I pointed to the other side.

"But humans aren't allowed in the Temple," Raven said quietly, her eyes still glued to the pictures.

"Oh, trust me. The other dragons had a fit. King Shardas told them to back off, that even humans deserved a chance to live, which they didn't if they stayed out there."

"He sounds like a just king," she said quietly.

I could see where she was going. "Raven, if he'd known, I have no doubt that he'd search for you personally. He may have been grieving, but that doesn't mean that he would neglect his duties to his people. Or rather, dragons."

We just sat there for awhile, staring at the pictures and letting it sink in that we were a very long way from home.

* * *

"He sounds like my brother," Raven finally broke the silence.

I was startled. "You have a brother?"

She nodded faintly. "Before I fell, I had an older brother. He was colored silver, and his eyes were a sharp blue. He was playful, your original jokester, but he knew when he needed to tackle a problem responsibly. He was your mediator, normally, between me and my friend, Sumpt. Just a platonic relationship, that's all," she reassured me. "But we fought often, over the silliest things. My brother was normally the one to break us up, laughing all the way."

"When I was eighteen, two years before I fell, he disappeared off the face of the earth. He may or may not know what happened to me. I know _I_ don't know what happened to him."

We were both silent for a long while.

"What was your brother's name?" I asked softly.

"Krashath," she responded, equally softly, her voice filled with a mixture of sadness and longing. "His name was Krashath."

* * *

I was stunned, paralyzed. I didn't have the heart to tell her what he'd done to her _other_ brother. If Krashath was Raven's brother, Shardas was her brother as well. It gave me chills.

I just swallowed and nodded. I recalled my mother's stories, and absently began drawing a map in the sand.

Raven was just lost in memories, her eyes sad.

This was the continent we were sitting on, the upside-down V the mountain we were in. Two days to the west, we'd reach the island that the natives direct Shardas and Mom to this continent. Four hours to the north, the island Mom was marooned on. Another day, and the Far Isles. Then we'd have to go for two days to get to Roulain, and another hour to the King's Seat. I labeled my map from Mom's stories, the rift, the home of the natives, the Glass Beach that probably isn't so glassy anymore.

"What is this?" Raven said, jerking out of her memories and coming over to inspect the map.

"The long way home," I responded. "We could go northwest and get there in three days, approximently, but I don't know that way, what lies there," I said, drawing a straight line from where we were to the King's Seat. "Whether or not there's any small islands that we can crash on. It's completely uncharted territory."

Raven nodded slowly, her wide green eyes taking in all the labels. She growled inquinsively and stabbed a claw on the native's island that directed Shardas to this continent. "What's there?"

"The place where we turn, this is where Mom stopped, trying to follow Azure-Wing's kidnappers," I said nonchalantly, re-drawing the area.

"What— I don't even want to know," Raven said, shaking her head.

I just laughed at her, hauling myself up. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving and tired. Not to mention thirsty from screaming at you. I'm gonna eat, and then sleep."

I left a bemused Raven in the mountain while I caught fish and grabbed fistfuls of ripe berries.

**See? I can update in a timely manner! (I think it's the first time I've done so on this story, though. Whoops.)**

**~Lou**


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